Louise Gray / Spring 2013 RTW

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The thing about Louise Gray is that she has followers. A gang. An entourage. Had all of her helpers, interns, supporters, and general fans come out from backstage where they were dressing the models, it would’ve given the world a perfect snapshot of what young, arty East End London looks like now. You’d have seen multicolored, hand-painted jackets, boys wrapped in flag dresses, pink wigs, plastic jewelry, blue fake fur, kiddie-toy handbags, the whole lot. These are some of the people who love Louise Gray for her friendly, indie, feminist do-it-yourself optimism.

What Gray does with clothes has little to do with trendiness, but something that’s risen up through a Central Saint Martins art-school consciousness and which she’s channeled in her own kaleidoscopic way through the more colorful end of punk and New Wave. She always credits her Scottish mother with instilling in her the idea that a girl can wear what the heck she wants, with whatever she fancies. “She told me that everything goes together if you like it.”

And this season, Gray has gathered yet more friends, not just the teenagers who scrambled to strip Topshop of her collaborative makeup line, but also more established names. Stephen Jones did the mirrored hats this season. Roland Mouret, creative director of Robert Clergerie, stepped in to give Gray free range to make her checkered lace-up shoes. The big Perspex geometric earrings and giant ring–cum–vanity mirror rings were made in collaboration with the London accessory brand Tatty Devine. And Barbie has swooped in too. Three squiggle-and-graffiti patterned outfits were devoted to the world’s favorite doll. Actually, they were so refreshing and stood out as proof that there’s a jolly alternative to London’s digital-print boom. Gray explained that she’d designed the three black-and-white looks “because Barbie’s first outfit was a black-and-white bikini.” Gray’s top-to-bottom looks will be miniaturized for Barbie in due course.

That leaves us to discuss what Gray’s clothes look like for spring: Much the same as last season, in fact, featuring layered-up excursions into handmade textile experiment and pattern, including blanket-stitching with chiffon and printed tights. She’s extended her range into printed sundresses and tailored coats for spring—quite “normal” pieces that could easily be incorporated into the wardrobes of girls who don’t necessarily live in Dalston.